Penn & Teller: Bullshit!

This is one of the most interesting shows I've ever seen. OK, so the portrayal of some of the issues is a bit biased, and it does descend into ad-hominem with worrying frequency, but it gets two very important things right: it's thought-provoking, and it's funny. So, although many of the arguments given seem watertight enough to me, if it's a fair and rigorous exploration of the issues that you're after, you're going to be disappointed; however, if you want to be introduced to new, intellectually-stimulating topics in an entertaining way then it's just what you're looking for. Oh, and they do have a talent for picking the funniest nutters imaginable when they're choosing their interview-fodder.

The big problem with "Penn & Teller: Bullshit!" is that very little of the debunking that goes on in the show is all that scientific. Too many of their episodes come down to Penn calling people assholes and just contradicting what the targets of his ire are saying. The Gun Control episode is a perfect example - Penn and Teller interview an anti-gun nut and call him an 'asshole', then they interview a pro-gun nut and (without showing us compelling evidence) tell us he's right. That's not skepticism - it's propaganda, and not very well camouflaged propaganda at that. While encouraging the audience to laugh derisively along with Penn might be entertaining if one agrees with him, it's not all that convincing to someone who's truly skeptical (as opposed to merely cynical).

'Bullshit!' seems to me to be long on ridicule and short on hard evidence. In a way, what the presenters are doing is combating what they see as lunacy with empty rhetoric and bombast - it's sort of like their magic show - they present the audience with the illusion that their argument has weight when in fact it often does not. When I first saw 'Bullshit!' I was taken in by it, but it soon became clear what they were doing.

I would prefer such a show to do what the show 'Mythbusters' does - i.e. prove beyond a reasonable doubt that what they're saying must be the case. It's simply not convincing to tell me that I'm a dumbass if I don't believe Penn and Teller. In fact it's abusive. Penn and Teller should stick to magic tricks, because it seems to me that too many of their attempts at skepticism are doing true skeptics a disservice because their show merely polarizes opinion rather than teaching critical thinking.

In short, Penn and Teller are full of it. Their latest show is just as full of illusion as their magic shows are, and that's no bullshit.

Speaking of bullshit, that's kind of what this show is. Not that it's bad-- it's good entertainment. But less critical viewers will need to be reminded that it's entertainment, not thorough scientific research.

While Penn and Teller do sometimes offer scientific research to bolster their arguments, the tend to present it in a manner that contradicts the purpose of serious investigation. I take issue with the way they enter their investigations with the assumption that something is "bullshit" and how they subsequently mold every piece of information that becomes available to them to reinforce their pre-determined conclusion. A real investigation would not involve them going into their research with the determination to prove it a fraud; it would involve a suspicion which they either prove or disprove after careful examination of the evidence.

I feel that the show manipulates your judgments by doctoring evidence, cutting and pasting phrases out-of-context, repeatedly showing loaded footage, making dismissive commentary without backing, relying on 'straw men' to win arguments, calling people "assholes" for having differing opinions, creating irrelevant "experiments" whose outcomes, at first glance seem to corroborate their point, but upon re-assessment, are not logically congruous with the evaluations you will make based on them (in other words, the experiments are misleading).

P&T essentially bully the viewer onto their side by creating an atmosphere in which you will feel dumb if you disagree; their ridiculously biased presentation ensures it. I'm not saying that most of the stuff they take on isn't bullshit, but their methodology is more akin to "Inside Edition" than, say "BBC News"; it's like a sloppy email forward, filled with ad-hominem attacks and hot-headed rhetoric, not a well-researched feature article. If it seems funny, well-intentioned, and consumer-advocatory, it is; but it's also manipulative and intellectually dishonest, at least for something that you given to understand is an unbiased documentary. That, in and of itself, should be a good reason to watch with caution if you're trying to get anything out of it besides entertainment.

When I say this is hilarious and informative, I mean it informs you of how stupid some people are. Penn and Teller do such a good job with this show, and do an even better job of de-bunking con-artists. Everything from Feng Shue to Magnet Medicine and these people who communicate with the dead (such as John Edward) are de-bunked. I just watched an episode where Penn and Teller got people to try out a "Mucas Mask". This was a supposed be a beauty treatment/facial massage in which people actually let somebody put snails all over their faces. You then see these people who have faces covered with nasty slime giving testimonials on how much better their wrinkles looked and how relaxed their face felt. This was something P&T set up just to show that these testimonials for other cons are not reliable. People can be so stupid, and Penn and Teller do a hilarious job of pointing out how gullible some people are. I reccomend this show to anybody.

Real people like us are used every single day, people we love, even ourselves. I have to admit that I even fell for some con men with a lot of visibility, some self-help pseudo guru and some pseudo alternate medicine.

From the Mozart effect to reflexology, alien abductees and fire walkers, the bullshit gets exposed the way only Penn & Teller can do it. The truth is distorted every where, from second hand smoke reports to the real effects of Mozart Music on babies (what effect?).

The real self-help is to not get conned, and it starts with the Penn & Teller Bullshit show. It can't be viewed in Canada but I got the DVD of the first season from their website.